


Another Day

by Mirrored_Illusions



Series: 2019 August Fic-A-Day [4]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: 2019 August Fic-A-Day, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Crossover, Episode: s02e01 What Lies Ahead, First Meetings, Gen, Post-Episode: s07e22 Chosen, Season/Series 02, Tara Maclay Lives, Twisting The Hellmouth Fic-a-Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-08-10 20:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20141245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirrored_Illusions/pseuds/Mirrored_Illusions
Summary: She still has a saving people thing, especially when it's a child.





	1. Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 06 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.  
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: 02x01: What Lies Ahead.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.

The two of them had been walking through the woods for several hours after they ran out of gas when Buffy suddenly picked up the sound of what sounded like a running child being chased by three or four biters. She quickly helped Tara up into a tree and kept an eye on her to make sure she would make it high enough and then ran in the direction of the footsteps.  
  
She loved Tara, not in a girlfriend and smoochies kind of way, but because she was a great person and a close friend. There was no denying that the other woman was not a fighter and that meant she needed to be somewhere at least semi-safe when Buffy went after the biters. Doing this had been a lot easier when all she had to do was get out of the car so Tara could lock the doors.  
  
It only took her a few minutes to see a child desperately trying to get away from three of the undead corpses. Putting on a little more speed she got herself between the little girl and the biters and swung the Scythe upward, cutting off half of the head of the first one and then repeating it with the second on the downswing. The last one was introduced to the pointy end and went down. She quickly checked to make sure they were properly dead and then she ran after the little girl, who had wisely kept moving.  
  
After catching up she slowed. "Hey. You can calm down and walk now. They're dead, really dead now."  
  
The girl slowed before stopping entirely and looking shyly at her. Up close, Buffy upped her estimate of the girl's age from about nine or ten to 12 maybe 13. "What's your name?"  
  
"Sophia." Her voice was low and she kept looking around her. Given the situation, she wasn't certain if it was because she was looking for more biters or if she wanted to escape from her as well. She gave a friendly smile, "Hello, Sophia. I'm Buffy. My friend Tara is up in a tree over there." She pointed a little further ahead of them where her witchy friend could be seen sitting on a tree branch high enough off the ground so no one could drag her down. "Why don't we go over there so I can help her down?"  
  
Sophia nodded shyly and followed along, still keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. It took a little work but Tara was soon back on solid ground. It was times like these when Buffy was very glad she had convinced her friend to wear pants instead of her habitual skirts and dresses. The world was all about being able to move freely and easily without anything unnecessary getting in the way. A split second was all it took to join the undead.  
  
Tara introduced herself to the little girl and then asked, "Do you have a family around here or a group?"  
  
Sophia nodded shyly again before she answered. "They're on the road, but I got lost because the walkers chased me."  
  
Buffy and Tara exchanged looks, neither of them had seen a road. But then, they had been avoiding human contact for a while and that included houses and any roads meant for cars and other vehicles. People were scared and if they saw anything that looked like people they either assumed they were biters or hostile living ones. Both were to be avoided if at all possible.  
  
"Are there many people in your group?" If it was a big one, then chances were they would not be welcome. Bringing Sophia back might help, but neither she nor Tara looked like they would be more than dead weight dragging them down. She gave a mental snort at her own wording and moved on.  
  
"Ten, maybe?" The girl looked uncertain and Buffy gave her an encouraging smile. "It's me and mom and Daryl. Rick, Lori, and Carl. Dale and Andrea. Glenn." She thought about it, "and a few others."  
  
They should be okay with that. Sophia clearly wanted to go back to them and didn't seem afraid, so that was a good sign. "Do you know if they have been looking for you?"  
  
"Yes, Rick found me once, but then more walkers came and he showed me a place to hide so he could kill them. But a walker came toward me and I got scared and ran. And now I don't know where they are." Her eyes got shiny.  
  
Tara leaned down a little, "We'll protect you until we can find your mom and the rest of your group."  
  
There were a few more questions, but the end of it was that they probably needed to go back. They also needed to find a place to sleep for the night, somewhere safe.  
  
Sophia had been running blindly to avoid the biters, or walkers as she called them, and hadn't really seen where she was going. All that had mattered was to get away and not run into more of them. It was understandable, but it made finding her group more difficult. Before the infection, they could've just walked around yelling the names of the rest of Sophia's group, but now it wasn't an option.  
  
As they walked they were all keeping a close eye on their surroundings, and in addition, Buffy was stretching her Slayer senses to the limit trying to see or hear any living humans. The only problem was that she had a mystical 'radar' for the supernatural, not regular human beings. Which meant she could sense the biters around them, but not who they were actually looking for.  
  
It meant all she had to go on were her eyes and ears, and the only unusual thing she had heard lately were church bells. Which meant there were someone trying to trick people into coming there or the church somehow still had electricity and there was a timer. Either way, it was bad news. Hostile humans or biters congregated around the loud noise. They were not going there.  
  
Two hours into their search they took a break and Tara gave Sophia a small bottle of sealed water. The three of them shared a cold box of soup, not daring to make a fire in the middle of the forest so soon after a herd had gone by. Warm food was a luxury they couldn't afford. There was nowhere for them to hide if the herd came back and waiting it out wasn't an option. Buffy may or may not be able to kill all of them, but they would prefer to not take the chance.  
  
It took several days for them to finally find the road as they kept having to change direction in order to avoid both a herd and spread out roamers. When they finally made it onto the road they saw the traffic snarl but what they didn't see was the RV Sophia had been talking about. There were a lot of cars in various shapes and sizes, but the vehicle in question was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Proceeding carefully as there were corpses in some of the cars, it took another 15 minutes to find a message written on the front window of a car. It simply said 'Sophia, stay here, we will come back every day'.  
  
Tara smiled at the little girl as she showed her the message. "We just have to wait here and they will come to us."  
  
The sign put all three of them in a good mood and they set about looking for something edible and a car where all of them could sleep safely that night. It was getting dark so it was unlikely someone would come that day.


	2. Slay Count

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: 02x01: What Lies Ahead.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 08 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.

Buffy woke with the sunrise and moved as carefully as she could so as not to wake the other two occupants of the car. She smiled softly as she noticed that the little girl they had found yesterday was sleeping soundly in Tara's arms. If she had still had her phone she would've snapped a quick picture to show them when they woke up, but all unnecessary items had been discarded early on. When the power went out and it became beyond obvious it wouldn't be back anytime soon her original group had decided to just leave all of the phones, laptops, and other electrical equipment behind.

As it was, she opened the door as quietly as she could and snuck out, closing the door as softly as she could behind her. After finishing her post-apocalypse morning rituals as they were, she climbed on top of the largest car close to the one her protectees were still sleeping in. Turning in a slow circle she surveyed the area for biters and other threats, but also a group of humans who could be Sophia's mother and someone else from their group. Buffy was really hoping no one was careless enough to travel alone, but it all depended on what they thought the girl's chance of survival was. And if she was brutally honest, then the chance of a pre-teen surviving by herself for two-three days was pretty close to negligible. Particularly since she didn't have food or water on her.

There were a few biters within her line of sight, but none of them were close enough to be a problem unless they were attracted by a loud noise. There were also few enough that she could take them easily enough. They weren't headed in her direction either, so all was good.

A movement from below alerted her to both Sophia and Tara being awake and in the process of getting out of the car that had doubled as their bed last night. She gave them privacy to get their own morning rituals done and kept her eyes on the road, the forest, and acres of fields surrounding them. The forest they had spent the last few days in was both the biggest threat and where Sophia's mother was most likely to come from.

Last night had yielded one big and one small, unopened bottle of water, a small packet of crackers, and four hermetic boxes of various foodstuffs. It was more than she had expected, especially since the little girl confirmed that her group had already looked through the cars. Still, it was food and they would take it.

The big water bottle was the kind used in watercoolers in offices and such, and it was quickly decided to redistribute the water into the smaller bottles they were all carrying. There was still a lot left afterward and it was agreed to use that before the smaller ones. It was too difficult and too unpractical to carry with them so they carefully drank their fill for the first time in several months, and then quickly washed off the worst of the grime.

"It wasn't a shower, but it still felt great!" Buffy smiled contentedly and Tara agreed with her.

Then Sophia told them about the CDC, and how they had gotten warm food and a proper shower. But also, that there had been an auto-destruct and how they had barely made it out alive because the only man left there had neglected to inform them of the impending explosion. It was a pretty awful thing to do, and even worse since that group included two pre-teens.

Buffy took the opportunity to teach the young girl a few easy defense moves while they waited for someone to turn up. Knowing how to twist if someone, dead or alive, managed to grab her could be the difference between living another day and joining the undead. She also gave her the smallest of her Kukri's and the holster to keep it in so as to not harm herself or others unintentionally. A short demonstration on both how to use it and how to take care of it followed.

It didn't really matter what kind of weapons you had if you didn't know how to use it. Preferably in the most effective way possible. Whatever her group had done, it didn't appear to have included much in the way of how to defend yourself. Which meant that the leader or leaders were probably alpha males who thought they were the only ones who needed to know how to defend the group, and the rest should just cower and hide. It was a terrible survival tactic.

Tara wasn't really a fighter and Buffy knew she was coddling her at times, but the witch did know how to defend herself both with and without magic. If it came down to it Tara could and would fight, but a part of Buffy would always see her as a non-combatant and subsequently keep her safe rather than in the thick of things. It didn't stop her from using breaks to teach her new things and make sure she remembered what she'd been taught before.

It was past noon when Buffy finally heard the sound of footsteps. They were much more sure and quiet than most people, which mean whoever it was had past experience in walking through forests. That meant a hunter of some kind and hopefully someone who knew the little girl's mother.

Alerting the other two, they ducked behind one of the cars while making sure they had a clear line of sight to where he was most likely to emerge. Some five minutes later a tall, lanky man with dirty, shaggy blond hair came up onto the shoulder of the road before he stepped onto the tarmac. He held a crossbow in one hand that made Buffy instantly jealous.

"That's Daryl!" Sophia blurted out excitedly in a whisper. Tara gave her a kind smile but put a finger in front of her own lips.

"Give it a couple of minutes. Let him look around." She wanted to see how he conducted himself in an area where there could be lurkers and undead ones under the cars and in between. The traffic snarl was free of anything but them and properly dead corpses, but the new arrival didn't know that.

Daryl went straight to the car with the message on and gave a barely-there twitch of the lips as he read the reply there. Which Buffy supposed was supposed to be a smile. Sophia had written 'I'm waiting for you' in smaller block letters beneath the original one.

He turned in a slow half-circle with the crossbow only half-raised. "Sophia?" His voice was higher than a whisper but lower than a normal speaking voice. He also kept looking around, including under the nearest vehicles. Buffy gave him mental points for both and gently nudged Sophia. It was all the encouragement the young girl needed and she rose and half-run to the man.

The reunion was short before Buffy and Tara rose as well and came around the car they had been using as both a shield and a hiding place. The man quickly moved in front of Sophia and the crossbow that had been pointing toward the ground previously was now pointed straight at them. Buffy gave him another menta point.

Sophia clearly felt the tension in the man who she had been hugging and made quick introductions. "Daryl, this is Buffy and Tara. Buffy saved me from some walkers and then they helped me find the road again." She turned to the two women and continued. "Buffy, Tara. This is Daryl from my group."

Daryl attempted to ask them some questions but Sophia interrupted. "Where's mom? And everyone else?" A pause and then, "And the cars and the RV?"

Keeping a suspicious eye on them, he answered. "Carl got shot. A vet and his family live on a farm not far from here, they've allowed us to stay for a few days."

"Is the farm safe, or is it just a question of when it'll be overrun?"

It wasn't the most subtle question to ask someone who was already looking at them like they were going to bite him in a second, but if the farm was at least moderately safe then it was a gold mine. Thoughts of fresh produce and hot showers flew through her mind and made her mouth water a little.

"No. And they don't want company either."

"Drat." Tara patted her arm gently.

"Can we follow you back to the farm, just so we can see that Sophia is reunited with her mother? We'll leave right after."

Buffy's heart hurt a little. They had joined several other groups but every single time she had ended up making them nervous, and it was only a question of if the others forced Buffy out or if she left on her own before they got that far. Tara always came with her, even when she was allowed to remain. Families were becoming rare, as was being in a group with people you had known pre-outbreak.

He looked hard at both of them. "How many walkers have you killed?"

Tara gave a startled blink, but as she had eye contact she replied first. "Eight."

He shifted his focus to Buffy, clearly expecting her to answer as well. "Uh…" She said intelligently. The truth was that she didn't know, but somehow she didn't think he'd accept that as an answer. So... "About 200? We were in Atlanta and we couldn't really get anywhere without encountering biters." Killing off herds on her own had been the main reason she'd been kicked out of the first three groups. Fear made people irrational and they took it out on her, rather than consider her a major asset to their survival.

Unsurprisingly, he gave her a disbelieving and very obvious once over before making eye contact again. He didn't question her answer verbally though, just focused on Tara and asked a second question. "How many people have you killed?"

"I have never killed a person." She was much too sweet and gentle for that, and if Buffy had a say she would never be in a situation where it was a possibility. Realistically, it was only a matter of time.

Buffy gave her own answer without prompting this time. "Eight". All of them had been while she was still living in Sunnydale, but she wasn't going to tell this guy that. Beside her, Tara barely managed to hide her surprise. She knew about Caleb, but apparently not the others.

Everyone had known she had killed Caleb, but she had the impression that none of them saw him as human. Or they were too busy putting her on a pedestal to realize she had killed a lot more people than Faith. For Faith, accidentally taking a human life had been an excuse to let herself go, but for Buffy, it had always been a necessary evil.

During a patrol over a year after Sunnydale became a lake, they were discussing slay counts, and Faith had admitted to killing three humans. If the topic hadn't been so serious then she would've laughed at her fellow Slayers expression when Buffy told her what her human slay count was. She also reminded her of the Gwendolyn Post situation. It had changed Faith's perception of her, and of her friends and their overall attitude since they knew about it but still judged Faith on one accidental kill. Yes, a lot of things happened afterward, but that was the part they had most commonly used against her.

Daryl nodded, but still didn't look like he believed her. Though luck.

"Why?"

"They were a threat to people." She didn't owe him any explanations, and given how he opened his mouth to ask something else only to close it again meant he read her expression correctly.

"Turnabout is fair play, so give."

He wasn't happy about her turning his questions on him, but he did answer them while they began walking off the road and into the forest before they made their way towards the farm.


	3. Medical Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S02.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 11 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.  
A/N 2: This doesn't entirely follow canon since I switched some things around, but it's fiction. So, yeah. ;)

They ended up wasting a lot of time talking and consequently attracting biters, both single ones, those wandering in twos and threes, and at one point a herd of about twenty. They ended up spending nearly an hour disposing of them because Daryl kept thinking he needed to defend all of them. It took Buffy ripping the head off of a recently dead one for him to finally take the very unsubtle hint.   
  
After that, they took turns going on the offense and the defense. Tara grabbed Sophia's hand so she wouldn't run away again and tried to stay between the two fighters. Still, she ended up having to cut the head off of one of the biters when it tried to munch on the little girl.   
  
The walk from the herd to the Greene Farm took just over half an hour, and with a little prodding from Tara, they got a little information about what they were walking into and the people they would be meeting there. It wasn't much, just the bare basics. They already knew about his group because of Sophia, who had warmed up to the two of them while they were searching for the traffic snarl. She had told them about how they had survived for the last couple of months and along the way told them things about the people as well.   
  
By the time they reached the Greene Farm, it was slowly getting dark and something was clearly going on, as there were more people outside than they were expecting. It didn't take long for the people there to notice that Daryl wasn't arriving alone, but it was the loud cry of "Sophia!" that got them to look closer. The woman ran towards her daughter while the little girl let go of Tara's hand and ran straight into her mother's arms.   
  
After a lot of loud talking, happy laughter, and a few of them trying to get everyone else to lower the volume of their voices it became clear the little boy in the group was getting worse and needed medication. Which was located near a school full of biters.   
  
"I can help with that," Buffy interjected. "I'm small and can easily get into places none of you could even dream of. I'm also very fast and adept at fighting."   
  
Unsurprisingly, many of them gave her the same disbelieving once-over Daryl had given her when she'd told him how many biters she had killed. It did, however, surprise her when the hunter spoke up to support her spur of the moment decision, and then he relayed what had happened with the small herd on the way. It got her even more dubious looks, but when an elderly man reminded them that time was of the essence they just agreed.   
  
The life of a child in their group was more important than the life of a stranger who was volunteering to help out.   
  
Before she left, she hugged Tara and whispered in her ear. "See what you can find out about these people, and if there's any chance we can get vegetables or something. Or a shower, they look clean and smell of soap." She really, really missed her daily shower and it was never more apparent than after she had Slain the undead and ended up with dead man's blood and bits of brain on her clothes and in her hair.  
  
Then she walked quickly to catch up with the two men. Which meant she was suddenly on yet another long walk, but this time with a former cop and an obese man who admitted it was him who had accidentally shot Carl in the stomach. Given how he was already breathing hard he shouldn't have gone with them at all.  
  
Nearly an hour later they arrived at what had once been a high school but looked like it had been turned into a FEMA base before getting overrun. It explained why the elder man, Hershel Greene, had sent them there.   
  
They took cover behind an abandoned ambulance before sneaking towards a police car. Popping their heads up they got a good view of the parking lot and all of the walkers milling around aimlessly. There were several more police cars, a few military vehicles, and a second ambulance on the other side of the parking space. On their far-right was the trailer they were looking for.   
  
Otis spoke up, "You see the big mobile medical trailer across the way?" Buffy and Shane both looked up over the car again and got a good look at the grey and blue trailer before nodding.   
  
"We need a diversion that'll last long enough to get there, get the medication plus anything extra you can carry, and then get away safely."   
  
If she had been alone she would've tried to pick off as many as possible without the rest noticing and then just gone to town on however many remained afterward, but there wasn't enough time to explain to the macho cop that she could do it and then convince him it wouldn't be a suicide mission. Probably.  
  
"There's probably flares in one of the cruisers. We could use them to distract the walkers so we can get over there." Shane began moving around the car they were hiding behind before Buffy stopped him with a hand on his arm.   
  
"We'll get overrun on the way back." The former cop swore.   
  
"What if you hide inside the ambulance and I try to get one of the police cars started and then drive the car somewhere away from here and the farm before doubling back while leaving the car running? Meanwhile, the two of you can run over to the trailer and get what we need."  
  
It took a little back and forth but eventually they agreed, more for the child's sake than believing she would be able to pull it off. They agreed on where to meet up and then the two men snuck back to the ambulance and entered through the already open back doors before carefully closing them. At the same time, Buffy walked in a crouch to the door of the car, carefully opened the door, and got inside. Luck was on her side for once and the keys were in the ignition.   
  
Some of the walkers had seen her move or heard the door and were on their way over before she even managed to try and start it. It took a few attempts and a small crowd of bites surrounding her, but it quickly roared to life and she drove forward and over several of them before she made a turn on the parking lot making sure she had their full attention and then took a right turn out and away from the school.   
  
Buffy drove fast enough that they couldn't get in front of her, but slow enough that they could get on the sides of the car and not lose interest. Their groaning could easily be heard inside the car.   
  
In the rearview mirror, she saw Shane and Otis make a mad dash toward the medical trailer. The last she saw of them was Shane half-way up the stairs. Good, that meant their part of the mission was already half completed.  
  
When she was out of sight she drove for another couple of minutes and then she stepped on the gas to get in front, and made a hasty U-turn and drove straight into the herd. Buffy made sure to hit as many as possible and then drove over them before getting out of the car and closing the car door noisily. Then she took her two favorite kukris and began the dance of death on the remaining dozen or so bites to satisfy her inner bloodlust.   
  
The two men back at the school would never know.


	4. Scavenging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S02.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 13 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.  
A/N: Happy Left-Hander's Day to all my fellow lefties!

Having caused a sufficient distraction for the two men and sated her own bloodlust a little, she ran back to the high school just in time to see Shane and Otis clear the school further ahead. The latter looked behind before they got out of view but he didn't see her in the dark. Shane kept his attention forward the entire time.  
  
There were still some biters left in the parking lot and she ran into the middle of it while making sure she made enough of a racket to catch their attention. Most of them turned and groaned in greeting before they began shuffling toward her. Twirling her kukris she made quick work of them and then proceeded over to the mobile medical trailer.  
  
The two men had gotten what they came for, but they could always use more medication and bandages. So the first thing she went looking for was bandages, band-aids, disinfectant, antibiotics, vitamins, birth control, prenatal vitamins, disposable gloves and needles, and anything else that looked like it might come in useful. There were even four sealed water bottles.  
  
Everything went into her backpack, which had been enchanted by Tara to be five times its size on the inside. She had gotten the idea after someone in one of their first groups had made a sarcastic comment using a character from the Harry Potter books. Tara hadn't been able to make their backpacks bottomless but enlarging them five times on the inside was still amazing given the circumstances.  
  
As soon as she had gotten what she came for she carefully opened the door to check on the situation outside. A few more biters had come down from the upper parts of the school, but there weren't that many and a few swipes and stabs took care of them.  
  
The next stop was the ambulance on the other side of the parking lot from where they had arrived. Buffy quickly went through it, but there wasn't much. A few packages of bandages and a single bottle of disinfectant was all it yielded.  
  
The two army vehicles and the two police cruisers didn't get her anything in the form of life-saving stuff, but she did collect three handguns and two rifles along with assorted ammunition. The last ambulance, the one Shane and Otis had been hiding in when she drove off as a decoy, turned up disposable gloves and needles, along with a mostly intact first aid kit. There were also three unopened packs of chocolate in the glovebox and the Slayer was almost more happy about that than anything else she had managed to scavenge that day.  
  
After a last look around, including giving the actual school a long look, she took off running back towards the pre-arranged meeting place. Before splitting up they had agreed to meet up at the same place where they had left the truck. After all, it wasn't a very good idea to drive straight into an area you knew was swarming with the undead. Which meant, they had spent nearly ten minutes walking to get to their destination.  
  
When she finally saw the two men in the distance she slowed and set her speed to powerwalking instead. They were sitting in the car arguing over whether or not they should wait the pre-arranged 30 minutes Buffy had given herself or just drive back to the Greene farm. Officer Douchebag, a.k.a. Shane was naturally the one who insisted she was already dead and wouldn't make it back there.  
  
In a petty attempt at payback for that, she decided to sneak up to the car. When she was right beside it she rose just enough so she was level with Shane's head before she began speaking almost directly into his ear. "You're a spineless coward to be so willing to leave me behind."  
  
Otis had seen her just before she opened her mouth, but Shane screamed in genuine fear before he began cursing her out. Satisfied, she just grinned and said, "Let's go, boys, there's a little boy in need of emergency surgery."  
  
She jumped up and got into the cargo bed, and as soon as she was relatively comfortable she patted the cab twice to signal Otis to begin driving. Both Shane's backpack and Otis' bag had been thrown in there as well.  
  
They were lucky and only saw two biters who were shambling around aimlessly by themselves, and they soon lost interest and kept going elsewhere. They saw no living humans and Buffy didn't hear anyone either.  
  
They made it back safely and Mr. Greene started the preparations for the surgery right away. Otis went straight to his wife as soon as he had given his relative? boss? the bag he had with the medical stuff. Shane handed off his backpack and spoke to Rick and Lori.  
  
Buffy went over to Tara who was sitting in the living room with Sophia and her mother. She was of no help when it came to helping the little boy, so the best thing she could do was stay out of the way. After Sophia had shyly given her a hug, and Tara had ensured herself that Buffy was unharmed the witch said, "Mr. Greene has permitted us to stay the night since you went to help get the things he needs for the surgery. He doesn't want us to go wandering at night."  
  
Buffy gave a genuine smile at that. "Did he say where we're going to sleep?"  
  
"There's a guestroom with a king-size bed, we can either share it or someone can find a foldable camping bed for one of us."  
  
"I'm good with sharing unless you want the bed for yourself." Any kind of bed or sort-of soft surface would be of the good at this point, so she wouldn't argue and just left the decision up to her friend.  
  
Then she gave an exaggerated sniff in Tara's direction and added, "You got a shower!" She turned toward the little girl's mother, "Can I get a shower, too? I'm all yucky and sweaty and full of things I'd rather not think about."  
  
Carol didn't belong in the house so she couldn't give permission, but she was willing to ask a few more people to get her permission. Buffy even ended up getting first dibs, much to Shane's annoyance. A brunette woman in her early 20's found towels for her and showed her where the bathroom was before reminding her that there was limited hot water and a lot of people so she had to be fast. A quick but very sincere thank you later and Buffy was in a working bathroom for the first time in over two months.  
  
Her clothing and weapons were removed post-haste and soon she was enjoying the hot water, and it was heavenly. Mindful of Maggie's warning, she got to work and scrubbed every single part of her body twice over before she finally felt clean again.  
  
Searching through her backpack she found some new, unused underwear they'd gotten in a clothing store the week before. Some more rummaging and she had a pair of jeans, socks, and a tank top. Then she finger-combed her hair and called it done. Six months ago she would still have been in the shower adding all kinds of lotions and stuff to her hair, but those days were long gone.  
  
She gave herself a last look in the mirror before collecting her dirty clothes and hanging up the wet towels before exiting the room. Officer Douchebag was pacing the hall outside, holding his own towels so she left the door open and went to speak to Carol.  
  
It turned out they were allowed to use the washer, but she had to wait her turn. Which meant they would finally have clean clothes rather than keep wearing dirty ones or finding new ones somewhere.  
  
After that, it was just a question of waiting to see if the surgery was successful or not.


	5. Recharging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S02.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 14 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.

The surgery went well after Mr. Greene got all the supplies he needed. As they weren't in a hospital there wasn't the usual equipment to keep an eye on the boy's condition and subsequently, his parents were pretty much glued to his side.  
  
Everyone else was served food once they knew Carl was in a more stable condition. Fresh bread baked earlier that day, a simple salad, and milk were all things neither Buffy nor Tara had expected to ever taste again. At least not anytime soon. Before society collapsed it would've been a very plain meal, but after several months of nothing but water, stale crackers, and whatever happened to be in a hermetically sealed tin can it was amazing.  
  
Thanks to the successful surgery and the return of everyone who left in the same condition they left in, the atmosphere was cheerful and generally happy. The only one who didn't entirely share the positive attitude was Shane. He kept glaring at her whenever he thought no one was looking in his direction. She caught his eye several times, but all he did was pretend like he hadn't done anything and then looked somewhere else.  
  
It was annoying. She hadn't done anything to him or to deserve the evil eye he kept giving her, her scaring him after he wanted to leave her behind didn't count. He wasn't doing the same to Tara so whatever it was, it was definitely directed toward her.  
  
Most of the people at the table were oblivious, a couple did notice. Carol shrank a little in on herself as if trying to avoid his bad mood and the possible consequences, which got the attention of Daryl. He followed her line of sight and gave Shane a glare, apparently under the mistaken assumption that he'd been glaring at Carol.  
  
The entire exchange made Buffy wonder what had made the older woman so afraid of men in a bad mood. Abusive homelife as a child? Abusive relationship/marriage as an adult? One or more bad situations? Daryl's willingness to protect her got him several mental points, in addition to the ones he'd already gotten for being a hunter and willing to go out looking for a child that wasn't his.  
  
The situation hadn't resolved itself by the time the meal was over, but she was tired and somewhere in this house there was a bed or foldout camping bed with her name on it. And when everyone began moving towards wherever they were going to sleep, she just followed her witchy friend like a lost puppy.  
  
A more awake part of her brain noticed that most of the people went back outside to the RV and the cars parked in front of the house, rather than to bedrooms inside the house. The only other guests who remained, other than the Grimes' family, were Carol and Sophia who got the second guestroom. Most likely it was due to Sophia.  
  
It didn't matter though and a few minutes later she crawled into the large bed with Tara, who had decided they were going to share it. The bed was a little too soft for her liking but it was still great. The pillows were that perfect not too hard and not too soft that was so difficult to find, and the duvet was the light, cool kind made for the summer months.  
  
It didn't take her long to fall into a deep, restorative sleep. Buffy's dreams were blissfully lacking in anything Slayer related, and if she dreamt about anything else she didn't remember it in the morning.  
  
*  
  
Breakfast the next morning wasn't as relaxed as the meal the night before had been, but Buffy felt tranquil enough that she didn't care and just enjoyed the food. It was stupidly early and the sun was still rising slowly in the morning sky.  
  
The only ones around the table were Buffy, Tara, the Greene family, and the people who had worked for them pre-apocalypse. Every single member of the other group was still catching Z's, which gave the Slayer an idea.  
  
"Why are you still living here unprotected, when it's only a matter of time before a big herd comes and overruns your farm?" It had been bugging her since she first laid eyes on the farm the evening before. Yes, it was comfortable and they had free access to fresh food and water, but there were no protections around the property other than a flimsy fence that wouldn't withstand much of anything. By this point they should've at the very least have tried to put up a stronger fence around the property, but there wasn't anything.  
  
"The sick won't harm us unless we attack them first." Buffy more or less tuned out the rest of Hershel Greene's defense, because what? No one believed that - not anymore.  
  
Interrupting him, she replied in a serious tone. "Mr. Greene, they are not sick. They're dead. Somehow their body has been reanimated and they're left with nothing but an insatiable hunger for living flesh. The best we can do for them is to permanently kill them by destroying the brain. There's no cure. Anyone who dies turns into one of them unless the brain is destroyed. If you see someone who looks dead, check for a headwound. If there isn't one, then make sure they get one. No exceptions."  
  
Things didn't go well after that, and it got even worse when she admitted she knew what they were keeping in the barn, and that it would attract even more of the biters. How could anyone still believe that the biters were salvageable?  
  
Carol and Sophia were woken by the arguing and not long after they were joined by the rest of the group from outside, but Buffy was relatively certain most of them didn't hear the part about the barn. She decided to change tactics.  
  
"We're leaving soon," she indicated herself and her blonde friend. "And our earlier argument aside, there are a few things I'd like to implore you to follow."  
  
Buffy gave all of them a long look, "Every single one of you should carry a backpack at all times containing at least one of each of the following items; a bottle of water, some food, basic medical supplies, and backup weapons." She'd seen all of them wandering around without any of it, and only a few of them carried a weapon of some kind.  
  
"You never know if you're going to get separated from the rest of the group, and given what's out there it's going to happen and when it does you need the tools to survive. Also, stop using guns unless you absolutely have to. They're loud and attract more trouble of both the biter and living variety. Get knives, swords, or even baseball bats to use instead."  
  
It wasn't just her strong dislike of guns that made her say the last part, because it really did get you all the wrong kinds of attention. "You will also run out of ammunition and the sooner you learn to defend yourself without them the better." She paused for a moment and then added, "If you want a projectile weapon then get a crossbow or something, the arrows are reusable and you can make new ones."  
  
The only one who seemed to agree with her was Daryl, but then it seemed like his go-to weapon was the crossbow she had first seen him with. And darn it, she wanted one, too!  
  
"And the two last points; if the water you intend to drink or put in your food doesn't come from a sealed bottle then you need to boil it. Always. The last thing you need is to get sick and die when it's entirely avoidable."  
  
More people were accepting that. Good. "Last thing. Always agree on a meeting place and how long to wait there if you get separated. Herds and people with bad intentions are everywhere, and sometimes the better solution is to go your separate ways for a little while. Just make sure you know how to locate everyone else."  
  
She gave them a little more advice and expanded on some of her earlier comments, but she and Tara eventually got up and left the farm after saying their goodbyes. And, of course, thanking the Greene family and Hershel in particular for allowing them to stay the night.


	6. Back To High School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S02.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 17 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.

It took Buffy and Tara the better part of three hours to walk to the high school as they didn't need to avoid abandoned cars or follow any roads. There were still biters ambling around the parking lot so they decided to go around to the side of the building to see if there were anywhere they could enter without Buffy breaking any locks or windows.  
  
They managed to get by the ones down on the parking lot without being noticed, but there were others further up just walking aimlessly around the school building. The Slayer took the lead and used her favorite kukri's to stab them with, and the few who came up behind them were met by Tara's short, light sword.  
  
About a two-third of the way around the building they saw a door standing slightly ajar, which was both good and bad for them. It was obviously good as it was an easy access point, but bad because it meant there was guaranteed to be at least a few of the undead in there. Regardless, they carefully approached the door and then opened it as silently as they were able to.  
  
Buffy peeked around it but saw nothing moving in there and they carefully crept inside and then closed the door behind them, allowing it to automatically lock so no one and nothing could follow them unless they had a key. Or something heavy to break the glass with. She could feel the undead nearby but they didn't make any noise, which meant they had been in there a long time with no interaction.  
  
They moved as quietly as they could down the hall towards what had to be the nurses' station. In all likelihood, it wouldn't have anything of use, but they just might get lucky. Opening the door made the biters inside 'wake up' and start groaning at them in greeting before shuffling in their direction. All three of them quickly met the pointy end of Buffy's favorite knives and went down.  
  
While Buffy was clearing the area of threats, Tara locked the door behind them and began searching through everything nearby. As soon as the rooms were cleared Buffy joined in the search. As expected it didn't yield much. A half bottle of some mild pain relievers, some band-aids, a sealed box of Kleenex, and a dozen lollipops.  
  
They went through all of the rooms one by one but didn't come up with much. Buffy killed any biters that were inside and her witchy friend searched for anything of value to them. The cafeteria was saved for last as they were hoping there would be something edible still in there.  
  
Much to both of their surprise, there was a small goldmine in there. It was obvious it had been used as a central hub for those who had congregated at the school, but there was a suspicious lack of anyone in there. The room had clear signs of people having been in there and quite obviously panicked and fled for places unknown. All the doors leader in there were closed, and in some cases even locked or barricaded.  
  
Half the tables had plates of rotten food on them and beside each, there was either a glass or a bottle of water. The two of them inspected all of the bottles and took the ones which were still sealed, and Buffy ran into a problem she hadn't been expecting this soon.  
  
"Tara." She started a little at how loud her own voice sounded in the empty cafeteria. Up until that point, they had communicated using body language and the more commonly used hand signals. The woman looked up from her bag where she had been putting two bottles of water.   
  
"My backpack is full." Tara frowned at her.  
  
"I still have about half of mine left. Maybe I should expand another one for you."  
  
A light went off in Buffy's head, "Would it be possible to put expanded backpacks into a backpack that has been expanded?"  
  
While her witchy friend stood there trying to figure out what she had just asked and then try to figure out if it was possible, Buffy searched through her own memory to see if they had passed 5-10 bags or backpacks that were small enough to fit inside the one she was using. If this worked then they would be able to carry even more supplies with them rather than pick and choose.  
  
"It might be possible. If we have the backpacks and somewhere safe we can experiment."   
  
They agreed that Buffy would look for something else to hold their things while Tara went through what they already had, and sorted it into categories. For the sake of safety, Tara locked herself into one of the smaller rooms off the kitchen.  
  
It took her nearly an hour to backtrack to where someone had left various school things and an assortment of other things to carry stuff in throughout the school. There were a lot of them, actually, but the majority were much too large for what they needed them for. The purses she found were too small and useless as well.  
  
She also ran into more of the biters, who presumably had come from either outside, which meant there was another open entrance point somewhere, or they had come up from the basement/down from the second floor. None of them were good options.  
  
When she returned she found that Tara had spent her time on the floor amongst their loot. It was a lot more than she had expected. Everything was divided into two piles, one for each of them. Buffy saw water bottles, medical stuff, candy, hunting equipment, food...  
  
"I found four backpacks that will fit. It should give each of us twice the space we have now, plus what's left of the original space. If this works."  
  
Tara gave her a kind smile. "I will do my best."  
  
"I know you will. If it doesn't work, we'll find another way." It was true. They had each other and they had more than most people could dream of having, so there was no reason to complain. "If it doesn't work, we'll still have five times the stuff anyone else can carry."  
  
This time the smile was both thankful and kind, and then Buffy was sent to check the kitchen and any storage areas for any food they could take with them.  
  
There were quite a few packages of stale crackers, more water bottles, lots of spaghetti, and large spice jars. She tried her best to avoid all of the rotting food in the various rooms and breathed very carefully. It took multiple trips to get everything back to her friend since she had kept the backpacks for her experiments.  
  
They decided to spend the night so Tara would have more time to find the best possible solution to their problem. As Buffy couldn't do anything to help, she had to entertain herself so she didn't go stir crazy in the small room they had claimed as theirs.


	7. Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S02 + interim between S02 & S03.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 20 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.

Buffy and Tara spent six nights in the abandoned school before they left. In the meantime, Tara finished her experiments with the backpacks. It turned out that trying to cram five expanded backpacks into an expanded backpack caused the magic to just expel everything and the magic to fizzle out. However, it was possible to put a single pack into one. It was also possible to expand the various pockets both on the inside of them and all those extra ones on the outside, so they still ended up with a lot of extra room. Even if it was less than they had hoped for.

  
Tara also added the spell to the back of one of the military vehicles and they placed all of their surplus equipment and food in the two extra backpacks. The larger area had taken more time to bespell but it had worked and their extra storage was ready for when they found something else.  
  
She also used a spell on the fuel tank, oil tank, and the fuel container, after expanding those as well, so everything in them tripled. Experimenting quickly proved the same method couldn't be used on anything they intended to eat or drink. Still, it improved their chances even more.  
  
It took them another week or so before they saw any signs of life, and when they did it was in the form of a massive fire in the distance. While Buffy wasn't 100% certain she thought the immediate area around it was surrounded by a gigantic herd of biters.  
  
"Do you think it's the Greene Farm?" Tara asked concerned from beside her.  
  
"Probably, it was only a matter of time before a herd made it there and overran it. I just really hope they made it out and that the fire is a diversion of some kind." If it was then it might distract the undead long enough for them to get to the cars and escape. If it wasn't then she hoped they were smart enough to use it as one.  
  
"We need to leave, get further away so they don't get to us."  
  
Buffy sighed, the house they had spent the last two nights in was comfortable but her friend was right. It had no defenses, not even a flimsy fence, and with a herd that large they had to either have a big, sturdy wall all around them or the walls of a well-constructed house as a first defense.  
  
They cleaned up after themselves, good manners were important even during the apocalypse, gathered their things and put it in the back of the car. A last look at the house and they were off.  
  
*  
  
Five weeks later they're staying in an almost pristine hunting goods store. All they had to do was kill the two walkers inside and they had access to pretty much all they needed as far as hunting and fishing went. Knives, compasses, emergency thermal blankets, first aid kits, bottles of water, animal traps, books on survival, maps, water purification tablets, and systems, you name it. They even had some small compasses on a bungee cord to wrap around the wrist like a bracelet. Those were put on right away.  
  
Buffy's favorite discovery was the crossbow section. She immediately chose one for herself with all the needed equipment and bolts. Then she picked one for her witchy friend, plus two back-ups for each. Knives and swords were good, but they needed a long-range weapon other than guns and this was perfect.  
  
They spent the next few days sorting through everything again and choosing better-suited backpacks for what was essentially a never-ending hike to an unknown destination. They didn't know where they were going, how long it would take to get there, or who they were going to travel with, but the intended to be prepared.  
  
Buffy found a small backpack and put a water bottle, a packet of stale crackers, a few energy bars, and one of the smaller first aid kits in it. She strapped her favorite kukris to her thighs and an assortment of knives all over her body, plus the quiver for her new shiny bow went on her back. The new crossbow was in her hand.  
  
"Tara?" The woman looked up from her sorting. "I'm taking the crossbow out for a test run and see if I can't catch something for dinner."  
  
"Be careful and be back before dark."  
  
Buffy smiled, "I will try, but no promises in case I run into a herd or something."  
  
They were still in a forested area so all she had to do was walk even further into it. Animals were moving both more and less free now. There were less living humans to avoid but the biters were so much worse for them if they were caught.  
  
A few hours into her hunt she had managed to kill half a dozen biters with her new weapon, and she had just downed a small deer when she heard the sound of someone walking and talking in low voices. Several someones and shuffling feet very close to them.  
  
Swinging her prey over her shoulder she walked carefully toward the sound trying not to make more noise than she had to. It didn't take long before a strange sight met her. Andrea from Sophia's group was walking beside a tall, black woman with dreadlocks. The black woman was holding two sets of chains which were connected to a pair of biters who were carrying a backpack each.  
  
None of them had noticed her, but somehow Buffy couldn't help herself from staring between the women, the chain, and their undead pack mules. It was a strange sight. The living avoided the dead, they didn't recruit them for anything. Except this woman had done just that.  
  
Shaking the shock off, she walked out from between the trees she had been lurking behind and called for the woman she had barely met nearly two months before. "Andrea!"  
  
The two women startled and quickly turned around. The unknown woman dropped the chains and smoothly drew a katana from its holster on her back and held it in a defensive position. Andrea clumsily lifted a medium-sized knife half-way up before recognizing her.  
  
"Buffy?" She asked incredulously.  
  
The following conversation was stilted at best, but it turned out that the fire had been the barn at the Greene Farm, and Andrea had gotten separated from everyone else. She made a decision and invited the two of them back to the hunting goods store. If nothing else they could get themselves better equipped, even if they decided not to join forces with her and Tara.


	8. Searching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: Interim between S02 & S03.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 25 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.

They decided it was worth the risk to make a small campfire so they could heat the deer Buffy had successfully shot with her new crossbow. None of them had any hunting experience before the world shambled itself into an apocalypse, but they were learning by trial and error. Buffy could hunt and track thanks to her years as a Slayer, but cooking was something that mostly eluded her. Skills or not, they needed fresh food and not just something from a tin can. Which meant Tara took care of the cooking part of the food preparation.  
  
Michonne kept looking at Buffy and Tara with suspicion, and then she would survey the area in the vicinity for any danger. It wasn't really surprising, no one was friendly towards strangers anymore. Nor did they share whatever they found unless they were forced to, and yet, here were two women who were doing just that. Buffy could almost see the woman waiting for the other shoe to drop, most likely in the form of other people whom she expected to jump out from someone and attack.  
  
"Relax, this isn't a trap. I invited you here because I had already met Andrea and her group. Tara and I already returned one little girl to that group, I'm sure with a little effort we can find them again." Sophia had been much friendlier though, and much less hostile. Andrea had given a strong indication back at the Greene Farm that she was of the confrontational type, and while Michonne hadn't said much so far, she was clearly not going to trust easily.  
  
"Why didn't you join them when you had the chance?"  
  
Tara replied before Buffy managed to do more than part her lips. "We found Sophia in the woods being chased by biters and Buffy rescued her. Sophia is a child and we couldn't leave her to find her own way back. She had no water, no food, and nothing to defend herself with. Eventually, we found where the group had been staying and the day after one of the men, Daryl, came there to look for her. They had moved to the Greene Farm after another child in the group was accidentally shot by one of their farmhands."  
  
Michonne nodded when Tara got to the part about Carl but seemed unfamiliar with what had happened to the little girl. Sophia's disappearance wasn't relevant to why they had been staying on the farm or how Andrea got separated from the others, so it was understandable.  
  
"Daryl made it clear their group weren't welcome at the Farm and were only allowed to stay because of the injured child. We asked if we could come back with them to see for ourselves that Sophia was reunited with her mother. We were permitted to stay the night, but left the next morning as we had promised."  
  
"They stayed. Why didn't you?" The woman was persistent, Buffy would give her that.  
  
"It wasn't safe," Buffy stated simply, before elaborating. "They had fresh food, water, and a very comfortable life there on the farm. But only a miracle allowed them the illusion of safety for so long. When we arrived there they told us that the biters were 'sick' and tried to stop us from permanently killing them."  
  
She hoped if any of the Greene family survived they had learned differently by now, and that they were actively helping to kill the undead instead of attempting to save the unsavable. If Mr. Greene was still alive then he was without a doubt one of the most valuable members of the group, and all the reason they needed to join them if given a second chance.  
  
From the look on Michonne's face, she had already heard about that part, probably more times than she wanted. However, she nodded her acceptance and went back to eating the deer.  
  
"If you don't want to stay with us that's okay, but I meant it when I said we'll help Andrea find her group if she wants." It was the whole saving people shindig, it was still a thing and apparently, Sophia's group had a bad habit of losing their female members. Of course, if they really had a doctor, even if it was actually a vet, then it would be priceless. After all, it didn't matter how much medicine and medical equipment you had if you didn't know how to use it properly.  
  
Andrea gave her a grateful smile. "I'll take the help. There are so few people left that keeping the ones we do have is so important."  
  
The murmured conversation went on for some time, with everyone asking questions and trying to get a picture of who and what they were dealing with. Andrea also gave some general details about her group.  
  
***  
  
They left the hunting goods store five days later in the military vehicle. Each of the women was given one of the spare backpacks and then they were told what they contained, but not that they were magically expanded. A little spell on the actual packs would make sure they didn't question it.  
  
All four of them also wore an expanded belt bag (fanny pack) with a small bottle of water, a mini first aid kit, power bars, maps, water purification tablets, a compass, and a couple of knives. They were more in case they had to dump the backpacks so they wouldn't be left without anything to fend for themselves. They also wore a mini compass on their wrist, with the actual bracelet being made out of a bungee cord.  
  
Each of them also chose a new belt since the store carried ones that had a hidden knife in the buckle. It was a kind of a novelty as none of them had seen it before. The knife was invisible as it simply looked like part of the buckles unless you knew what it was beforehand. If they were captured and their things were stolen, they would still have a single weapon to defend themselves with.  
  
The last things they did before they abandoned the store was to close the door and check that their fire pit was out and covered. Michonne took out her Katana and chopped half of the head of her two biter mules.  
  
Both Michonne and Andrea also chose a few things for themselves before they all got into the car and just picked a direction. It was anyone's guess where the others might have gone, or if they had even had a plan. They hadn't discussed what they would do in case they were overrun again, which was stupid since according to Andrea it had already happened several times.  
  
Three days later they passed through a small village which included a grocery store. It was mostly empty, but they managed to find two tin cans and a variety of seeds. Tara pocketed the latter while no one was watching. Sooner or later they would have to settle somewhere for the winter months and if they could find somewhere to plant the seeds it would help with the food shortage in the spring.  
  
Afterward, they went from house to house, taking food and sealed water bottles if they found any. They also collected warm clothes, blankets, and duvets for when it would get cold. There wasn't much and they didn't stay long enough to search through every nook and cranny. Everything was stored in the back of the military vehicle.  
  
They repeated the process in every small town they came across. If they saw a farm that looked abandoned they drove closer to check for fresh produce or farm animals they slaughtered and ate. Sometimes they found it and they carefully stocked anything that didn't need to be frozen and they had a small feast with what couldn't.  
  
Most of the farm animals had either starved to death or been partially eaten by something or other, but on a few occasions, they found a pig or a chicken. At one point they even found a lonely cow. Still, getting on farms were getting dangerous as the animals made too much noise and attracted the undead.  
  
Over the course of three weeks, they managed to find and catch two live chickens. They were caged and put in the back, while one of the backpacks was moved to the backseat between Andrea and Michonne. As they lay at most, one egg per day the four of them ate the eggs in turn.  
  
There was still no signs of Sophia's group. According to Andrea, they would need at least three cars just for her group and probably another one for the Greene's. Which meant they would be visible from a distance.


	9. Joined

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: Interim between S02 & S03.  
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and TWD belongs to someone with expensive lawyers.  
Author's Note: Written for Day 28 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.

They had been searching for Andrea's group for more than seven weeks when the woman finally spotted the caravan in the far distance, driving away from them. The group was driving towards one of the small towns Buffy's group had already cleared, as a result, there was nothing there except maybe a few biters locked inside a few houses.  
  
Getting to them might take a few days depending on whether or not they were seen, and the other groups' reaction to seeing a military vehicle following them. If Buffy was honest, she would be wearier if she met another armored car than if she met a regular car. There were so many reasons to fear someone in a more powerful vehicle than your own.  
  
After a discussion, they decided to keep driving despite it getting dark. The undead didn't care if there was daylight or not, they would keep shuffling their way to wherever. The living would stop because of the human instinct to fear the darkness and what might be lurking there, even if they knew what the biggest danger was.  
  
Michonne was driving the car with Tara riding shotgun, and Buffy and Andrea in the backseat. It hadn't taken them long to work out a system for when each of them would drive, and for approximately how long. Getting into an accident during the apocalypse for some stupid reason wasn't something any of them wanted on their conscience.  
  
Far in front of them, they saw the caravan stop on the road and all of them exciting the cars in full view of anyone watching for miles around. The Slayer rolled her eyes, that was incredibly careless. If the biters didn't spot all the movement, then living humans would and thereby making them a double target. If they had driven even a little further, there were some convenient buildings they could've parked in between.  
  
Their cars would still have been at least partially visible, but it would've looked more like they had been abandoned there rather than parked there because it was convenient. The upside was it would be much easier to keep an eye on them so they could get close enough to get recognized.  
  
The distance was too great for them to reach in one night, but they agreed to drive for another two hours. It would get them closer, and if they got up early they could decrease the distance even more. There were a few grumblings about the lack of sleep that would result from the plan, but the thought of the reunion with the other group kept it to a minimum.  
  
Buffy woke up with the sun the next morning and gently nudged everyone else into a waking state as well. She switched places with Michonne who had slept in the driver's seat due to the lack of accommodations nearby, the other three went back to sleep and she began driving. There was no need for them to pay attention this early and getting some extra rest would be good for them.  
  
Despite losing much of the distance, they were discovered by Rick's group who finally began taking measures to not be seen as much. Such as driving in the more forested areas when possible, speeding up when they otherwise wouldn't, and so on.  
  
The game of cat and most meant they lost another three days before they finally got close enough for Andrea to show herself. When they finally caught up, Rick got out of the car and pointed a rifle of some kind at her while Daryl kept that sweet crossbow of his trained on her center mass as she walked slowly towards them with her arms half raised. The rest of the group got out as well, despite being told to stay in the cars.  
  
Michonne and Tara stayed in the car with Buffy, who kept a close eye on the entire group outside. She counted 11 people, including the three members of the Grimes family and three of the Greene family members plus Jimmy, the boyfriend of the youngest daughter. Officer Douchebag and the elder man with the RV were nowhere to be seen, and neither were the rest of Mr. Greene's people from the farm.  
  
Thanks to her enhanced senses she was able to hear the entire conversation but pretended she couldn't for the sake of secrecy. Carol was the only one who seemed to be genuinely happy to be reunited with Andrea, but in the defense of the rest, they were relieved and happy to see the woman was alive. Even if they might not be too fond of her as a person.  
  
It took some convincing on Andrea's part, but they were eventually waved out of the car and over to them. Rick's rifle and Daryl's crossbow were aimed toward the ground, but at an angle that made it quick and easy to raise then again and shoot. In a show of 'I'm harmless,' Buffy decided to exit the car without carrying any weapons in her hands. Both kukris were strapped to her thigh's though and within easy reach should she need them.  
  
Michonne came out and immediately put a hand on the handle of her katana as scanned everyone there with a healthy dose of suspicion. Out of all of them, she was the most likely to be attacked or rejected by the group. Tara made no attempts to get to any of her weapons as she got out of the car, but Buffy could feel her pulling her magic around herself in case she needed it.  
  
Buffy smiled in greeting. "Hello Rick, we've been looking for you guys. You managed to lose another member of your group." She indicated the tall, blonde woman then eyed the group again, in a slightly more obvious manner this time. "You seem to have lost more people than just her."  
  
The man forced a smile, "Dale was killed by a walker and Shane." He fell silent for a few moments, "Shane is dead, too." There was definitely a story there, but she didn't push. It didn't matter, the man had been a ticking time-bomb, so she wasn't sorry to hear about his demise. Nor was she surprised that it didn't seem like a biter got to him either.  
  
He thanked her for taking in Andrea, but then he asked what he hadn't the last time. And as they had agreed upon beforehand, they accepted. Michonne was still dubious but had for some reason taken a liking to Andrea and chose to stay because of it.  
  
It would take a lot to get this group of people into fighting shape, and into a mindset where they could survive. She needed to find out who had which skills and how they could be used in the most beneficial way. Daryl was a hunter, Andrea had extended knowledge about fishing, and presumably, the Greene's knew how to actually do farm things if they could find somewhere with a thick wall around it. Mr. Greene was a doctor and that meant their survival rate was higher than most groups out there.  
  
All they needed was a large house with a huge yard/property and a gigantic wall around it, a forest they could hunt in, and either pond to fish in or close enough to the ocean that they could fish there without running into a herd. That was some serious w-full thinking on her part, but she could dream. All she had to do was find the real thing or something close.  
  
But first, they needed to leave before the approaching herd heading in their direction came too close. Picking somewhere to go would have to wait.


End file.
